Bride Wars

OK, so Robin and I went to see this movie on Friday night and it was Ha-larious! I don't think I've laughed this hard at a movie since Baby Mama. :)

It's definitely a movie to see with your girlfriends. Although you probably want to go at an "off" time so that you don't get stuck in a full theatre and the only place for 6 teenage girls to sit is next to you. Trust me, you'll thank me when you're sitting there in peace instead of listening to "omigosh" and "did you hear this?" and "what did they say? I couldn't hear." Ugh.... maybe if they had kept their mouths shut for two minutes they would have heard what was going on in the movie.

Anyway... it was an enjoyable time and I recommend it to anyone seeking a good chick flick.

Until...................................

DING, DING, DING!!!

ROBIN IS THE WINNER!!!

And because she played the game (seriously people, you disappointed me a little :() she wins.... well I don't know. I'll buy you lunch or something. Haha...

Good job!

Until..................

"Stumped..." Part 2

Pathetic.... only one response.

Nope, it's not Wall-E, Robin. Although, I guessed that too.

Clue: It's not a vegetable or mineral. :) That just leaves animal...

If it makes you feel better I didn't get it until after Hol gave me another clue and I looked up all the Disney movie's online. I was downright ashamed of myself. :(

Until.....................

Stumped...

**UPDATE** I forgot to say that the winner would be announced by 8p tonight (1/29), and if no one guesses correctly by then I will post a clue. :) (This update has no affect on guesses already submitted. I was going to put this update last night but forgot.) Happy guessing!!!

**ORIGINAL POST**

Ok, so Holli presented me with a trivia question tonight.

The question was: What Disney movie features a main character who doesn't speak?

Try and figure it out without looking on the internet. I'll be interested to hear your guesses...

Until.............................

No More Poll...

An executive decision has been made....

We are most likely going to Vegas because that entire trip will cost less than half of what it would cost in airfare to Italy. :( Maybe next year....

I have a feeling my car will be crapping out soon and I will need to throw a chunk of money into a down payment for a new one before April (when I had planned to get a new car). We'll see though....

Thanks to the 3 that voted... Sorry to the two that voted Italy. :/

Until..............................

Poll and Near Smackdown in HR...

Well, I've added a poll on the right-hand side. It deals with vacation for the three of us sisters, and I'm asking for your input on where we should go. You have until Saturday at noon to vote. I'm actually not sure if it will close at noon... I vaguely remember the last poll I did not being in the same time zone as me, so who knows. Just make sure you vote before Saturday afternoon. And please, if you have another suggestion kindly drop a recommendation in my latest post. :)

Ok, so on to the drama for the day. I got myself up super early today to do my hair and get out of the house 20 minutes before planned so that I could run to HR and drop off my insurance papers and get my RN badge right when they opened at 7:30. Well, for whatever reason I slept horribly last night and didn't get much sleep. So needless to say I'm tired, but I got out of the house early, as planned, and arrived at HR 5 minutes before they opened. I was quite proud. I coudl see and hear people in at the desk laughing and having a "good ol' time". Finally they open the door at 7:30. I walked in and got a super warm welcoming. <-- notice sarcasm people. As soon as I walked up to the desk the lady behind it (who was smiling) looked at me, frowned, and said "Can I help you?" Really what she meant to say was, "Seriously? You're bugging me right when we open? I don't want to deal with you right now." After that oh so warm welcome I kindly told her that I was here to drop off my insurance forms and that I needed to get me new RN badge. Without even looking at me she said, "The badge system is down." Uhhh... ok. Any idea of when it will be back up? "I don't know." Do you think it will be later today? "I don't know. Call first before coming over though." She says this as if she doesn't want to see my face anymore than she has to. So I told her thank you (What for? She did nothing for me, but treat me rudely?) and left. I was so miffed! She is in the wrong profession if she is working in HR dealing with people everyday and she doesn't even like people!

Ugh, so I'm headed over to the hospital, because our lecture day for the unit was at 8a this morning. As I'm halfway there Ashley calls me relaying her experience in HR that I had just had minutes ago. I waited for her and we made a quick pit-stop in the cafeteria and then headed up to the unit.

Fast forward a couple hours. Another girl in lecture with us came back from break wearing a new RN badge. The system was back up and running. Ashley and I decided that we would go over our lunch break.

So we get there at about 12:40 and I went up to the desk, told the HR guy what I was there for, and he looked at me like I was crazy. He said, "Uh....ok.... well you'll have to bring in your license and we'll copy it and then you can get your badge." I was so ticked! I said, "Are you kidding me?" He looked at me blankly and I relayed the whole encounter with Ms. Crabby Pants that I had had just one week prior, and she said that as soon as I was done working as a Graduate RN I could come get my RN badge in time for RN orientation. Again the blank stare. I think I had to explain it 3 times, with Ashley chiming in too, all the while Robin is off to the side laughing. He finally agreed, and we filled out a form and went over to the lady who was working the badge machine. The whole process probably took 10 minutes. I would have been livid if I had walked out of HR again without my RN badge. I mean, he was the one handing out badges like there was no tomorrow, to people who hadn't even tested yet! He was even there when Ms. Crabby Pants flipped out on me last week about the whole badge thing. I do everything correctly and he still tried to deny me my badge. I think not!

*Sigh* The point is... I got my nice red RN badge and now I am happy. :)

Alright, well I really need to get to bed, because RN orientation will surely put me to sleep if I do not get a decent nights sleep. Don't forget to vote in the poll!

Until...........................

Farewell Forks....

Well, I did it. I finished the Twilight series last night, or should I say this morning (1:35am to be exact). I was struggling the last 50 pages. The last two nights I had to force myself to go to sleep and the one night where I want to stay up and finish, I start to get sleepy at midnight.

I'm feeling triumphant, a little sad, accomplished, cross-eyed... the list could go on. I've never read so much in such a short amount of time before. I read Over 2000 pages in like 2 1/2 weeks time. That's crazy! What's even crazier is that my sister read those same pages in FOUR days! She's nuts!

I look forward to my return to Hogwarts, but first I must take a break from these magical places. I think I'll read a couple of biographies or something. I have about 4 on my list. So I'll read a couple of those and then get back to HP.

Well, I have much to do today and need to stop sitting at the computer.

The Bachelor is on tonight! Yea! I can't believe I look forward to this as much as I do. Big things are coming... they do some stupid acting thing tonight, Melissa cries (!), and he doesn't want to give out the last rose. *Gasp* I'm sure I'll twitter part of my experience tonight. :) Stay tuned...

Until................................

Spaghetti Anyone?

There is just something very unappealing about the smell of spaghetti sauce in the crockpot right when you wake up. Blech!

You know how when you wake up you only have a longing (or tolerance) for breakfast related items? Cereal, waffles, fruit (hah! yea right...), granola bar, coffee.... Well, spaghetti sauce is not on that list for me.

It's funny how in my mind only breakfast food is allowed at breakfast, but when "normal" lunch and dinner meals should be served I am willing to accept breakfast then too. Not just lunch foods at lunch and dinner at dinner. I feel like I have a little food prejudice going on.

I blame it on my mother. She forced upon me her strict beliefs of breakfast food only being for breakfast. It was a rare treat when we got "breakfast" for dinner. What's wrong with having pancakes, eggs, toast, etc for dinner? No harm would be done. Even now as an adult I find myself saying "well, that's not right" and then catching myself with "why isn't it?" If I want to eat a bowl of cereal for dinner, I should be able to eat a bowl of cereal for dinner! However, she still makes a comment of, "Megan! You can't just have cereal for dinner! That's not a balanced diet." (It's not like I would do it every night.) If I want to eat dinner at some other time than 5:30 on the nose, then I should be able to do that! I'm not always hungry when I "should" be eating. Who made all of these unspoken rules??? This is probably a contribution to obesity in this world. Okay, that might be a stretch, but you never know...

*Sigh* I feel liberated!

This has caused me to tag this issue in my brain, so that on a later date, when I hopefully have kids, I will stop myself from saying "You can't have that for dinner. That's what you eat for breakfast." Instead I will say, "Yes! Let's eat "breakfast" for dinner!" :)

Any of you have little things your parents instilled in you, that you didn't even think twice about until you were an adult?

Until.........................

TWITTERific!

I'm twittering people! Yea, I figured it out!

Check out the right hand column for My Twittering's. :)

Until.........................

Words to Live by...on a Starbucks Cup...

I still had about $8 on a Starbucks card that I got for my graduation (thank you Jenn) so I decided to treat Holli to a drink this afternoon. 1) I haven't gotten to spend very much time with her lately and 2) I really wanted one. So after I got back from Walmart with my Mom (Don't go there!! Run Away!! The parking lot is a hazard to your health and every other yahoo is there today) we headed off. She got her tall Chai Tea Latte and I got a Light Caramel Frap. We went and pulled into the mall parking lot to chat for a bit and she noticed that her cup said something on the side. She chuckled a little and then read to me aloud...


In case you are unable to read the cup this is what it says.... "I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stumped by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, "Hi." They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word." --Augusten Burroughs Author of Running with Scissors


How profound is that? If only it were truly that easy.


While Hol and I were sitting in the parking lot a funny thing happened. A girl and her mother came out of Bergner's and as they were midway down an aisle they started to get that look on their faces. "Is this the aisle we parked in?" "Were we in the next aisle over?" "Hmm... I don't quite remember. I thought we were in this one." They start looking around. Finally they stopped walking and just started looking. We kind of chuckled at the fact they couldn't find their car because the lot was not that full to begin with. Finally they TURN AROUND and there was their car!! They were standing in front of it the whole time!!! We started cracking up, but of course disguised it by acting like we were talking to eachother and sipping our drinks. By the time they pulled out we were busting up laughing. How silly!


Anyway, that was the quick recap of my afternoon. Tonight I will be scanning pictures to transfer to my great aunt's digital photo frame, finishing the last 180 pages of my book, reading two People magazines, working out (ehhh- might put that off until tomorrow), and attempting to Twitter again. We'll see what I actually get done though.


Until...........................................

Twitterfied and Tech Support...

Well, I tried to branch out in my blogging skills and just ended up frustrated. The concept of Twittering has had me mystified for a couple weeks now. How did it work? Who could be a part of it? Why was it necessary? All these questions went unanswered so today I was going to take the plunge. I was going to start Twittering, but I was having difficulty posting and such and then just got fed up so I deleted my account. A little hasty? Maybe... but I was annoyed after over an hour of trying to figure it out, looking at helpful hints, and browsing for answers. Maybe I will try again at a later date, but for now I will just happily continue blogging the old fashioned way. My blog will, for now, be tweet-less. Such a shame... all the fun terms were in the top 5 reasons of why I wanted to try it. Oh well....

Tonight I was enlisted to help a dear friend with her blog. She started one today and was having issues with her playlist. I was quite impressed with her. She claimed to be not so good with the computer stuff, but she had already added pictures and a playlist. I'd say that's quite impressive. Some people don't even know where to start. I joke that I am like Blog Tech Support. Whenever any of my friends have questions about their blogs they ask me. I don't mind the least bit, and the only reason I know so much is because I've fiddled around with it long enough. I feel as if I should start putting tutorials up on my blog. I was teaching another friend how to hyperlink a couple of weeks ago, and striking through words is so much fun! :) All these are just little things I've picked up along the way.

Anyway, I'm still reading the last book in the Twilight series. These books are crazy! I have like 250 pages left and this is where Hol says it got difficult. She felt like it was never going to end. We'll see how it goes. I turned my cousin onto the books now. She's on bedrest though, so she really has nothing more to do than lie around and read books for the next couple of weeks. I have several friends that are reading them right now too. I am so Team Edward it is not even funny. Even Holli was surprised at how much I... don't prefer... Jacob. I can't explain it, but he just gets on my nerves and I can't get past it. I did actually like him in the 4th book... for about 100 pages, and then it went back to disliking. Oh well... doesn't matter anyway. I better get back to reading. I want to finish by tomorrow night. Wish me luck!

Until.....................................

Vacation Destinations Anyone???

Well, the sisters and I are in the works of planning our Sisters Vacation of 2009. The only trouble is we don't know where to go. Well, actually that's not true. Our other problem is that I'm a working girl now with a very "unconventional" work schedule. So now instead of working around 2 work schedules we have three.

Anyway... the point is, we were wondering if any of you had ideas for where we could go. We will probably be going at the end of May, so keep that time of year in mind. We will most likely on go away for 5 days as well.

At this point we're open to suggestions.... Fire away....

Until.....................................

Inauguration and Scarves...

Well, as of 12pm we have a new president. He is no longer "president-elect". He gets the title and all the responsibility that comes with it. I do not envy him....
I didn't get to watch the actual ceremony because I was in my Nurse Residency meeting today. It was our first of 12 that we will have in this year of 2009. We are piloting, if you will, this program for our facility. This type of program has been used many places, but it is the first year we are implementing it for all of our new grads. Basically we get together once a month and discuss how things are going with our jobs, and it's supposed to help with retention. We'll see if it works. I am not looking forward to the fact that we are "required" to do a project and we have to take the HESI two times during this year. TWO times!!! If you recall, the HESI is a "pre-NCLEX" type exam that we took twice during our college career. Why we have to take it again after already passing the NCLEX is beyond me. I have a feeling this part of the program may be cut for next year. I don't see how it will show anything. It will be way too broad, especially for all of us that are specializing in different areas (which is everyone!). Anyway, I digress...

To change the subject... Lately I have been hearing that this year is the "Year of the Scarf". Well I couldn't be happier about this fact! I love scarves!!! They are just so cute and they add a little something to an otherwise plain outfit. They keep you warm and fashionable all at the same time. :) I went to Walmart after my NR meeting and decided to look for some. I found some and they were only $5!!! What a steal! I warn you though, if you are going to go partake in this awesome deal, that there are two types of $5 scarves. One type (which I came across first) is very cheap looking. They feel weird and don't look very good. They comes in many different colors/patterns, but they aren't very eye catching. I was a little disappointed, but decided to wander around a bit, and came across some more scarves. Jackpot! There was another section of scarves in the next aisle and they were cute, a nice material, and the colors were very poppy and vibrant. I was super pleased and snatched up three different colors. :) I also ended up getting two pairs of scrub pants and two scrub tops. I'm a nurse now, you can never have too many pairs of scrubs. :)

Well, I should get going. I need to eat dinner, and then I'm going to a movie with some girlfriends. We'll be minus one :( but she is going to get the scoop on the latest cast off of the Bachelor. I haven't watched in several seasons and now I'm back in it. The Bachelor is so sweet though, it's hard not to like him. Of course I also have my favorite girls. :) Anyway... I better go...

Until.......................................

Eclipse...finished

Well, I finished the third book in the Twilight series. Seriously, I have been a reading fool lately. I didn't realize how much I missed reading during school until just recently. This also makes me realize that I need to get my yearly eye exams. Ha!

I must say that the third book is by far my favorite. So much happens! Although, how could it not with over 600 pages? Again, I can't talk about it, because some of my readers are reading them now and I don't want to give anything away. Let's just say that this third book evoked a lot of emotions in me; good and bad.

And just to be consistant... Team Edward... all the way!

My eyes are heavy already at 10p. I've been running around like a maniac all day it seems. I'm trying to hold off on sleep for a couple more hours though since I have to work tomorrow night. My first 3rd shift in over a month. I think it's going to be rough.

Well, I'm off to keep myself awake....

Until..........................

Less Unofficial Than Before...

How confusing!

I got my pass letter today! Yay!!! That means that I am less unofficial than I was when I checked online last Friday. I am closer to being official! I had to detach the bottom half of a piece of the paper and send it in with a $50 fee for licensure.

Are you kidding me?!?!?

Have I not already paid enough? Not only have I paid all of these semesters of tuition, but also for a review class, the actual test (which was like 2 separate fees), my fingerprinting.... The fees are astronomical! This better be the last time I have to pay for anything regarding my license! I'm done! As soon as my license gets here I will officially be official!

Along with my licensure fee form I got this beauty....

Yup, that's my pass letter. I had to take that in to HR today to get my status and my pay changed. That's a whole other story though... soon to come.

Can you even believe that picture? I'm barely smiling and my hair is sticking out!!! It looks like I was about to throw up, or had been atleast! Granted I was feeling quite queasy the morning of my test, but I didn't know I looked that bad. Obviously, the grainy black and white picture on a piece of paper doesn't help the matter, but this will be in my employee record. Bummer...

So, I was super excited when Robin called and said she got her letter, so I went and checked my mail. It was there!!!! We decided to go right up to HR and have our status changed and get our new RN, BSN badges! :) I was excited to say the least.

Robin and I arrived at about the same time and the clerk copied our pass letters, and we also handed over our NCLEX review class verification so we could be reimbursed since we had passed. The clerk told us to hold on for a minute while... we'll call her Ms. Crabby Pants... looked over our papers and would come out and talk to us.

Pretty soon Ms. Crabby Pants came out and looked around. "Who's Megan?" Uh...that's me. The rest of the conversation went down hill from there. She asked where I was going to work, told me to go to the RN orientation starting the 28th, and proceeded to absolutely freak out about when my pay would switch over from New Grad salary to RN. So after we talked about not being able to switch salary mid-pay period, and when our new salary would go into affect, I mentioned I needed a new badge. Well, that was my first mistake. I never should have said anything in front of her. She went off on a tangent that I was NOT allowed to get a RN badge until I started RN orientation (or would no longer be working as a graduate nurse). Seriously?! I'm only going to be working as a "graduate nurse" for 2 more days. But NO, she wouldn't let me get the RN badge. She went on to explain how expensive the badges were (Uh, then why am I not getting an RN badge since I am one anyway?!) Well, I had to have a new one because I needed special access that I wasn't able to have in my other job on 2400. Then the guy messed up my badge and he had to make me another one with a Children's Hospital logo on it. If she had just let me have a RN badge we would not have wasted 2 badges. You see my point? So then, lastly, she got all psychotic over my NCLEX reimbursement. She went through this whole long spiel that she had other more important priorities to take care of this week and she would not send in the reimbursement to the county until next week. Plus, the refund would be sent to our house. Whatever! At this point I just wanted her to walk away from me and leave me alone.

So, alas, I did not walk out with my RN badge with the nice red tag behind it. :( I am deterred for another week. Just as well... I will probably get a new picture taken and now that I have "Orientation" ("NCLEX"'s cousin) trying to make herself known on my chin I will need a couple days to get rid of her. Seriously, stress is not my friend.

So that's what I've been up to. Orientation all week. I think many of my brain cells have died of boredom over these last four days. I look forward to reading Eclipse tonight and tomorrow. Maybe I can finish it! :) One can only hope... or atleast Robin hopes. :) hee hee...

Until................................

I'd like you to meet...

...NCLEX.
Yes, that is what I have named my latest blemish. I kid you not. I was over at my sister's house tonight and we were working on something for my other sister and Holli looks at me and goes, "So are you going to name that one NCLEX?" (Not in a mean way...just in a sisterly way) I looked at her (because it didn't even take me .2 seconds to figure out what she meant) and said "Yes, in fact I am." We were cracking up!

Stress does horrible things to my body. I break out. I think I'm hungry all the time. My GI system experiences horrible upset. I apparently get chest pain (or whatever that was). Stress is bad. It's very very bad.



Until.........................

New Moon...

I wanted to talk about the second book in the Twilight series, but I won't give anything away. Don't want to ruin it for any of you that haven't read it yet.
I was very happy with this book. I don' tknow if it was because when I was reading Twilight I already knew what was going to happen, because I had seen the movie, or if it was just a really good book. I think it's a mix of both.
I loved the beginning! It pulled you right in, and I was in suspense from the very first moment. I was a reading fool for 48 hours!
I was a little frustrated in the middle part of the book, but the end made up for it.
I have already passed on the book to my friend Robin, and will begin reading the third tonight. I can't wait!
If you haven't read these books I recommend them to teen/adult readers. They are more of a love story, rather than a vampire story as most would think anyway.
Alright, well I must go... I need to eat, and then I'm going to watch my little Brooke. I'm taking her with me to our family celebration dinner while everyone else goes to Luke's game.
More later....
Until...............

Whirlwind...

What a week! It's only been 4 days since I've posted, and so much has happened. I took my Boards this week. Wednesday was the big day. I was so nervous! I was doing all I could not to throw up or pass out on my way to the testing center, which is a good thing, since I was driving! I got there about 25 minutes before I had to be there and they gave me the rules, took a picture of me, scanned my fingerprint, made me put everything in a locker, and handed me ear plugs. They took me into the testing room, started me on the tutorial and FOUR HOURS and 265 questions later I emerged. I was exhausted! It was like torture!
Little did I know, the next 48 hours were going to be the worst. I was in a major depression. I went out to lunch with my former Complex partner, Jen, and our friend Kim. We were all pretty blue, Jen and I because we had just finished our test and Kim because her computer crapped out on her and she couldn't even take it that day! After lunch I met my good friend Cara at Panache and she bought me a drink (coffee of course) and we talked a bit. After that I helped Hol take some food to a friend who had just had surgery, and then I went home for dinner. I was still feeling pretty awful, so I ddin't eat much. Then Robin and I went past the test center so she would know where it was when it was her turn and then we went to Panera for more warm beverages. I was home at about 8-ish and picked up a book since I needed a distraction (more on that later).
Well, Thursday wasn't much better. I had resolved to staying in bed all day and doing nothing but read. I succeeded for awhile but then got up and did a few things. I ended up having to get ready at 4p because I had a new graduate dinner to attend. Our whole table was depressed because we had all taken the test and were awaiting our results. I went home promptly after the dinner to continue reading.
I had a horrible nights sleep. I got up at 7:45 and got completly ready. It was D-Day. I knew that once I read my results I was either going to be a distraught mess or ecstatic and calling a bunch of people. Well, at 8:05am I logged onto the website that would give me my results. I was a nervous wreck. I could barely type in my credit card number. When I hit the button to get my results I didn't realize I was holding my breathe. I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears, and my head was feeling sort of detached from the rest of my body. My eyes finally focused and fell on the words "Grade: pass". I passed. I sat there shocked for a minute. Did that really say what I thought it did? I checked the name. Yep, they were my results and I passed!
The tears started creeping up from the corners of my eyes. I blinked rapidly and pulled myself together. I called my parents and sobbed to both of them that I had passed. Mom cried, Dad laughed at me. :) I would have too though had I been hearing myself from the other end of the phone line. I texted my sisters and friends because I was in no shape to talk to anyone else. I couldn't believe it....
Then I had to go to MOPS. The kids were crazy there, and for some reason we had a ton of visitors. Afterwards, I went over to my friend Cara's for lunch and dessert. She was pretty confident I had passed. I'm glad she had such great confidence in me. :)
The rest of the afternoon and night was spent with my sisters and parents. We had pizza for dinner and talked around the table.
A good end to a good day. :)

Until.........................

Neglectful...

I know... I've been neglectful of my blog for the last couple of weeks. Honestly there hasn't been much of anything to write about. I've been studying my behind off and working to boot.

I'm still not fully aware that I am done with school. I think once everyone is back to school and I start orientation it will really hit me. Plus all this studying I've been doing hasn't really helped make me less school oriented.

Boards are right around the corner.... please pray for me. I'm anxious and nervous and any other word you can think of that describhes total apprehension and fear.

Anyway, I should probably be in bed. I just wanted you all to know that I hadn't forgotten about bloggin. I'm hoping to have something more exciting to report on then studying sometime soon.

Oh, I did finish reading Twilight today. That's something. :) I can officially say that I am a Team Edward so far. :) The book was really good, and I highly recommend it even if you've seen the movie. I saw the movie first and then read the book, but it was just as good if not better. You get a lot more background in the book, and I was pleasantly surprised with how closely related it is to the movie. You know how some movies don't go along with the book at all. Well, this book matches up almost to a tee with the movie. Just thought I'd share that with you all. :)

Until.......................

Out with the old...

Happy New Year everyone!! It is officially the year 2009! I can't believe it! It seems like it was just yesterday people were freaking out about "Y2K".
Not too much is going on at my house today. I've been doing practice NCLEX questions all day, and mom has been laying on the couch. She got that darn respiratory flu that is being passed around, so she's been taking it easy for the last couple of days.
I started work this past Sunday. I'm telling you, I was not cut out for working the day shift. I've been wiped when I come home. I'm much more tired after a 12-hour day shift, than I am after a night shift. I'm getting a little more familiar with the way things run in the NICU and all the people there. Only a little while longer and I take my test. Ahhh!
Well, I just wanted to pop in and wish every one a Happy New Year. Also, I finally was able to update my Christmas post with pictures. So go check it out!

Until................................